by Barbara Livingston Nackman, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

by Barbara Livingston Nackman, The (Westchester County, N.Y.) Journal News

SLEEPY HOLLOW, N.Y. -- Katrina Van Tassel isn't much interested in a modern version of Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

But others in this historic Lower Hudson Valley village are certainly talking about Sleepy Hollow, a new Fox television series set to premiere Sept. 16.

In this retelling from Fringe creators Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman, Ichabod Crane awakens 250 years after being sent on a mission by Gen. George Washington, only to discover his old nemesis, the Headless Horseman, has, too. And he's on a killing spree in modern-day Sleepy Hollow. The series airs 9 p.m. Eastern Monday nights on Fox.

"I am looking forward to seeing the show," says Laura Smutek, manager of the Horseman restaurant in Sleepy Hollow, who has checked out the trailer online several times. "It is scary and it is funny. I laughed so hard."

Her eatery, a North Broadway mainstay since 1989, is in the epi-center of Sleepy Hollow country. It is a short walk to the Old Dutch Church and the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where Irving is buried. Inside are photographs of the bridge where the menacing headless horseman rode, silhouettes of the horseman (which happens to be the local high school mascot) and picturesque shots of Sleepy Hollow.

A large poster for the 1999 Tim Burton movie Sleepy Hollow starring Johnny Depp hangs on one wall and Smutek is hoping to couple it with a poster for the new show, which stars Tom Mison as Ichabod Crane and Orlando Jones as Capt. Frank Irving, the local lawman.

The series is a fantasy-based, supernatural retelling that uproots Crane, a shy school teacher, and the terrorizing headless horseman - and sweeps them forward to current times.

"I loved the Tim Burton movie," says the show's co-creator and supervising producer Phil Iscove. He says his version plays with the idea of time travel and delves into what evils could be hiding in cavernous dark woods. He says he and the production team did research on the area and Irving's story, even taking aerial photographs and using some live village shots for opening credits.

"We want to do justice to the (village) of Sleepy Hollow," he adds.

There won't be actual scenes of the Old Dutch Cemetery or even the moonlight nights when Ichabod Crane met Katrina Van Tassel, though, since the television production was filmed mainly on location in Wilmington, N.C.

But that hasn't dampened the excitement or just plain curiosity from the local audience. The story is the thing and there is no doubt it will draw new attention to the village of Sleepy Hollow, which until 1996 was called North Tarrytown.

Village officials are banking on the new attention to boost tourism. They used some money from a $60,000 state "I Love New York" grant to produce a commercial touting the area as a tourist destination. They tried to place the ad during the Sleepy Hollow show, but village officials said the $23,000 price tag for a 30-second spot was too high and are hoping to run it on the municipality's website and during less expensive times on Fox and other stations.

"I think (the new show) is pretty cool for the village," says Mayor Kenneth Wray. "It will promote the village and may make people think about us and want to see the real Sleepy Hollow."

Fox Television producers may think they know how to capture the village's spirit in a new and twisted tale, but for those who live and work here, celebrating Irving and by extension, Halloween, is not only passion, but practically an industry, too.

"I don't mind people doing a spinoff of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow," admits Village Historian Henry Steiner, a longtime local resident. "I don't think Washington Irving would mind either. He might be entertained since his stories show he had a great sense of humor."

Steiner's favorite retelling of the story is the Disney version narrated by Bing Crosby. But he adds that Will Rogers played the lead role in a silent version and Depp did the movie version produced in a studio in Britain.

And Los Angeles-based writer Arthur Van Kraft has written his own version of the tale, Sleepy Hollow: The Secret Life and Legend of Ichabod Crane a paperback and e-book that is being adapted for a stage production, so the attraction to the story seems never ending.

Sara Mascia, the executive director of the Historical Society of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, is keeping an open mind about the newest version from Fox.

"It's a great story and people can't help but redo it," Mascia says. "I feel protective over it, particularly since I work in the field of historic preservation. I do try not to encourage a fake. But you can certainly get inspired by this story, which resonates in many people's lives. It just doesn't get old and it transcends generations."

And at Whimsie's Incognito in next-door Tarrytown, keeping a regular supply of legend-related books and gift items has become a year-round necessity.

"Anything like this show that brings attention to the area and what makes us special is good for the business community. And we all take pride in the local history," says store owner Jacqueleen Golabek.

Karen Ringen, a 20-year village resident, said she is very curious about the story's newest version. So enthralled with her adopted community, she and her husband got married 12 years ago on Halloween at the historic Old Dutch Church.

"I am really into Sleepy Hollow and area's cultural history," she says. "I worry about it (the Fox show) being goofy. It would be nice if it were accurate."

At least one resident isn't fazed by all the hoopla. When asked her thoughts about Sleepy Hollow, the real-life Van Tassel, a local photographer, emailed, "not interested."